freenovelworld Chapter 263 The Changes of the Son-in-Law
Chapter 263 The Changes of the Son-in-Law
Zhao wanted to unite with Wei to destroy Han in order to gain access to the Central Plains; Han wanted to unite with Wei to destroy Zhao in order to gain the vast plains. However, Wei Wenhou used diplomatic means to unite Han and Zhao and re-formed the Three Jins Alliance as a "best strategy to attack the enemy's strategy".
Wei Wenhou was well versed in the doctrine of the mean, mediated the conflict between Zhao and Han, adopted a joint development strategy, and the three states expanded outward separately, thus avoiding civil war in Jin. This bought time and space advantages for Wei to reform and become a powerful country, thus helping Wei to dominate the Central Plains and once became the strongest country in the Warring States Period.
Key 3: The Unrivaled Wei Wuzu
Sun Tzu said, "War is a matter of great importance to a state. It is a matter of life and death, and the key to survival or destruction. It must be carefully examined and understood." War is a matter of great importance to a state. It is a matter of life and death, and the key to survival or destruction. It must be carefully examined and understood.
This shows the importance of soldiers and the army to the country. Therefore, Wei Wenhou reused Wu Qi, reformed the military system, established the Wuzu system, and replaced the previous recruited and mobilized soldiers with professional elite soldiers.
The Wei Wuzu were actually elite heavy infantrymen selected from the Wei army. They fought as a profession and were the first professional army in Chinese history. The Wei Wuzu were extremely powerful, so the Wei State chose to expand westward and destroy the weakened Qin State.
Under the leadership of Wu Qi, Wei Wuzu captured Hangu Pass and fought 64 battles of varying sizes. Among them, the decisive battle, Wei defeated the 5 million Qin army with only 750 Wei Wuzu, shocking all the nations.
Afterwards, Wei State seized more than 500 miles of land on the west bank of the Yellow River from Qin State, compressed Qin State into a narrow strip of land west of Mount Hua, and established Xihe County with this as its center.
Wu Qi was the first governor of Xihe County. After consolidating the Xihe area, Wei used it as a springboard to occupy the mountainous area. By then, Wei had firmly controlled the main road connecting the Central Plains with the West.
The geographical advantage enabled Wei to block the communication between Qin and the Central Plains, and to seek economic profits and develop its own national strength through its position as the "center of the world". The rise of Wei was like a snowball.
In 396 BC, the great ruler Wei Wenhou passed away, leaving behind a rich legacy for the State of Wei. Throughout his life, Wei Wenhou promoted talents in an unconventional way, and carried out all-round reforms in politics, economy and military affairs, which rapidly strengthened the country's strength.
Even though Wei was surrounded by wolves at the beginning, after dealing with Zhao and Han and winning precious time for development, the rise of Wei became inevitable.
As the first hegemon of the Warring States Period, his ideas and practices on governing the country had a huge impact on later generations, and the State of Wei became a classic example of the rise of a country in Chinese history.
[Read all the historical facts about the famous generals of the Qin State and the Seven Heroes of the Qin State and the Warring States Period in one go]
He was one of the most famous generals of the Qin State, known as a "brain trust", and was also a famous prophet in history, and was even called a Feng Shui master. In this video, let's talk about this famous general of the Qin State - Chu Li Ji.
Chuliji, also known as Yanjunji, was a yang-qi name. Because his fiefdom was originally in the Yin Township of Weinan, he was named after the fiefdom, and his other name was Chuliji. Later, because he was granted the land of Emperor Yan, he was called Yanjun.
Compared with Shang Yang, Chu Li Ji may not be as famous, but he is a crucial figure for the development of Qin State.
When it comes to resourcefulness, I believe that the first person that comes to most people's minds is Zhuge Liang. He was revered as a symbol of wisdom by later generations and served as the prime minister of Shu Han. The first person in Chinese history to be called a "brain trust" was Chu Li Ji, the son of Qin Xiaogong, a member of the Qin royal family.
He was the first prime minister of the Qin State. According to the Records of the Grand Historian, he was humorous and wise, and the people of Qin praised him as a "brain trust". The so-called "humor" is a wine vessel that can be turned to spit out wine.
Later generations often compare a smart person who can speak eloquently and has an endless supply of words to someone who keeps drinking. Therefore, the people of Qin called Chu Li Ji a "brain trust" because of his talent and humorous words.
So, what abilities did Chu Li Ji have? The Records of the Grand Historian records: "The reason why Qin was the most powerful among the princes in the east was due to the strategies of Chu Li Ji and Gan Mao." As an important official of the Qin Dynasty for three dynasties, he served as the prime minister of Qin twice. He served under King Huiwen of Qin, King Wu of Qin, and King Zhaoxiang of Qin. He was both civil and military, and made great contributions to the development of Qin.
Chu Li Ji was born into a royal family, the son of Duke Xiao of Qin. Although his mother was not favored and he had an older brother, Ying Si, it was common sense that he would never be able to ascend the throne in his lifetime.
But he was smart since childhood and realized this early, so he devoted himself to assisting his elder brother. When Ying Si ascended the throne as King Huiwen of Qin, he served as the right guard and led troops to the war, making great contributions to the expansion of Qin's territory.
He attacked Wei, seized the interests of Zhao, defeated the Chu army, and captured Hanzhong, paving the way for the later pacification of Bashu.
During the first Five Kingdoms coalition attack on Qin, he turned the tide and defeated the coalition forces in the Battle of Yique, winning the first coalition attack on Qin, which shows his outstanding military ability.
In 311 BC, King Huiwen of Qin died, and his successor, King Wu of Qin, was ambitious. He not only drove away Zhang Yi and Wei Zhang, weakened the domestic power, but also set up left and right prime ministers to distinguish them from the six eastern states.
Gan Mao was the left prime minister, and Chu Liji was the right prime minister. In the pre-Qin period, the right was respected, so Chu Liji became the first right prime minister in Chinese history. Chu Liji, who had outstanding military achievements, was considered a Korean prince because his mother was a Korean princess.
So when King Wu of Qin proposed to capture Yiyang of Han, he opposed it and gave the opportunity to make merit to the left prime minister Gan Mao.
At the same time that Gan Mao captured Yiyang, he led a hundred chariots directly to Luoyang, the capital of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, forcing King Nan of Zhou to put up a massive welcoming team.
Although the Eastern Zhou Dynasty had already declined at that time, King Nan of Zhou, as the ruler of a country, actually put up such a high-level welcoming guard of honor for the prime minister of Qin. This was enough to reflect the powerful force of Qin and Chu Li Ji's noble status.
Such a small welcoming ceremony was criticized by King Huai of Chu, which shows how sensational this incident was at that time.
King Wu of Qin overestimated his own power, and failed to lift the tripod, but his spine was broken and he died that night. His sudden death instantly put the Qin political arena into a state of emergency, triggering a fierce battle between the Mi Bazi group and the Wei Ran group.
The two heirs of the Qin princes were fighting for the throne, and the situation was very critical. Chu Liji played a role in stabilizing the government at this time. He saw that Wei Ran, who held military power, had turned to his half-sister Mi Bazi and Yingji Group, so he made a decisive decision and helped them to put Yingji on the throne.
When Wei Ran used force to wipe out Ying Zhuang and his supporters, Chu Li Ji chose to turn a blind eye.
At that time, Wei Ran and Mi Bazi were determined to win the throne, and they were both quite capable. Chu Liji was loyal to the Qin State, and as long as he could make the Qin State prosperous and strong, he didn't mind who took the throne.
So after Ying Ji ascended the throne, Chu Li Ji continued to serve as the right prime minister and served King Zhaoxiang of Qin for another 7 years.
A god-like existence in the Feng Shui world - revered as "Chu Li Xianshi". Since Chu Liji stepped onto the historical stage, he has gone through 30 years of battles and hard work, and can be said to have become a general and a prime minister.
But it also wore down his health. As the power of Chuxi continued to expand, he knew that his life was coming to an end and he would have to give up the position of prime minister to Wei Ran sooner or later. In 300 BC, Chu Li Ji passed away.
But before he died, he left a famous prophecy: "A hundred years later, there will be an emperor's palace on both sides of my tomb." That is to say, a hundred years later, there will be an emperor's palace on both sides of his tomb.
Sure enough, after the establishment of the Western Han Dynasty, the Changle Palace was built in the east and the Weiyang Palace in the west. This divine prophecy is enough to reflect his profound attainments in Feng Shui, and he was regarded as a god by Feng Shui masters of later generations.
Throughout his life, Chu Liji was born into a royal family, served as a veteran in three dynasties, served as prime minister in two dynasties, was known as the "first think tank", was the first right prime minister in history, and was also deified by a Feng Shui master in later generations. His life can be called legendary.
[Read all the interesting historical facts about the son-in-law in one go]
As the saying goes, "a live-in son-in-law is worse than a dog." Many people in life often have this prejudice. Although this sentence seems extreme, it also has its historical origins. In this video, let's talk about live-in sons-in-law.
In ancient times, a son-in-law who married into the wife's family was called a "zhuixu". This form of marriage was called "daozaomen" or "ruxiang". This form of marriage has a long history in China.
The reason is very simple. The man settles down in the woman's home, helps her support her parents, raise children, and continue the family line. Naturally, he can also inherit the woman's property.
This marriage custom also includes economic factors. Although it is not accepted by most people and many tragedies have occurred, it has never stopped.
The practice of a live-in son-in-law has been around since the Warring States Period 2400 years ago. According to the "Strategies of the Warring States: Zhao Ce III", young men from poor families often sold or mortgaged themselves to their parents to become a live-in son-in-law because they could not afford taxes or had difficulties in life. The son-in-law was then assigned to a woman by the master.
This kind of son-in-law is a family slave. Not only that, the stepfather who married his son to a widow is also a son-in-law, and his status is also low. There is a sentence in "Historical Records: Biographies of Humorists": "Chun Yu Kun is a son-in-law." Chun Yu Kun, a famous scholar in Qi State, was a son-in-law.
At that time, slaves were often punished with the punishment of shaving their hair. Chunyu Kun was called "Zuixu" because of his marriage to his wife, just like Sun Bin was called "Sun Bin" because of his punishment of "bin". "Shuowen Jiezi" mentioned: "Zui, with the word "ao" before "thing", "ao" is like lending money and then taking it back."
It can be seen that the original meaning of "zhui" is the same as mortgage lending, which shows that zhui marriage contains economic factors. From the origin of zhui marriage, this form of marriage also contains economic factors.
Therefore, marriage by marriage is a form of marriage established after the formation of betrothal marriage. The man is generally called a "zhuixu". The origin of "zhuixu" can also show the economic factors involved in marriage by marriage. This is exactly the same as the current situation.
The social status of a son-in-law was relatively low in the pre-Qin period. In society, the status of a son-in-law was relatively low and he was often looked down upon. As the saying goes, "If a family is poor and has no money to marry, one can only marry with one's body."
It means that the family is too poor and can only use him as collateral to become the woman's son-in-law. Since he is called collateral, you can imagine what kind of status he will have.
According to the Household Law of the Wei State, as a person of low status, a son-in-law was not allowed to set up an independent household and was not granted land and housing. According to this regulation, people who did not belong to this kind of low status could set up a household and obtain the right to be granted land.
It can be seen that the land granting system at that time was to grant land and housing sites to households according to the household registration. According to this order, people of low status could only change their status after three generations.
Moreover, if one's status changes after three generations, those who want to be officials must state their "son-in-law" status in the relationship list. This is equivalent to being politically unclean.
It is also recorded in the "Law of Not Running Away" that generals are told not to feel pity for sons-in-law who join the army because they are treated worse than ordinary people.
They can only eat 1/3 of the rice every day and cannot eat meat. When encountering dangerous tasks, they are given priority as cannon fodder. The Qin State also regarded son-in-law as a target of attack.
"Records of the Grand Historian: The Basic Annals of Qin Shi Huang" records that Qin Shi Huang once exiled criminals, sons-in-law, and merchants to the frontier.
The reason why son-in-laws were exiled to remote areas like criminals and merchants was because they were of low status and were employees of the family. Until the Han Dynasty, the status of son-in-laws did not change.
For example, during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, in order to resist the Xiongnu, some sons-in-law were forcibly conscripted to serve as soldiers in the frontiers along with criminals, or to reclaim wasteland. They were on the same level as criminals, which shows how low the status of sons-in-law was at that time.
The change in the status of the son-in-law occurred during the Tang and Song dynasties. The marriage customs of the son-in-law changed and his status improved. He was no longer a so-called collateral and got rid of the "sale contract relationship".
Even in the later period, the live-in son-in-law can take some of the family property and return to his original family, or go out to start a new family. In essence, it is actually taking back many years of "salary" from the mother-in-law's family, which can be said to have gained freedom from the person.
As a result of this change, the son-in-law who lives with the wife's family has gradually been accepted by the public, and marrying into the wife's family has become a common thing. Some people even do it completely voluntarily instead of being forced by family circumstances.
During the Yuan Dynasty, live-in sons-in-law became a popular marriage custom. At this time, live-in sons-in-law began to be divided into different levels, and the laws of the Yuan Dynasty clearly stipulated that only one son in the family was not allowed to marry into the family.
If a family has only one son, the only option is to marry into the family before the Lunar New Year. From this we can see that the custom of marrying into the family has been protected by national laws.
In the Ming and Qing dynasties, live-in sons-in-law were divided into two types: one was "old-age son-in-law" and the other was "married-out son-in-law". The Ming Dynasty laws also had specific regulations, such as the cases of Fan Chaoxu and Xu Pingmei, which reflected the legal regulations on married-in sons-in-law at that time.
During the Qing Dynasty, it was very common for a son-in-law to marry into the family, and even many celebrities were sons-in-law. The founder of the Qing Dynasty, Wanyan Hanpu, was originally a member of the Sushen tribe, and later fought with the Wanyan tribe.
When both sides were losing, in order to ease the conflict between the two tribes, Wanyan Hanpu married a woman in her 60s into the Wanyan tribe. Later, Wanyan Hanpu relied on the Wanyan tribe to become the king of a country.
There are many famous people in Chinese history who were sons-in-law who lived with their wives, such as Li Bai and Zuo Zongtang. They all made great achievements in their careers.